Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Through interweaving dance and dialogue, Material Bodies is a sensual and cinematic look at the relationship between amputees and their limbs. This visceral and colourful short film explores how a prosthetic leg can be more like a piece of jewellery, a dance companion, or a part of you.

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Under the watchful eye of their vogueing mother, a young dancer in Rio de Janeiro finds acceptance on Brazil’s Ballroom scene. Set in a world where it is increasingly dangerous to be visibly queer, MOTHER is a coming of age story about the power of chosen family. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2020

Synopsis

A posthumous portrait of hi-energy pioneer Patrick Cowley; taking in the postindustrial charms of San Francisco’s now-gentrified South of Market district, once famous for its dance clubs and leather bars, as if searching for Cowley’s still-lingering energy.

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Does school prepare you for adult life? Does hardship build character? A personal and unconventional documentary about a teacher who left deep scars on the psyche of his former pupils.

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A documentary exploring the Norfolk Mental Health service through the experience of 10 patients impacted by waiting lists that can run for years.

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A series of sketches about the miseries of life in the 21st century and its effects on the human condition. During the course of the series the negativity is gradually replaced by positivity, turning misery into a mere passing necessity thus providing a guide to surviving the unexpected.

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Following teenage Peruvian surfer Jhonny Guerrero over four years, from the age of 14 as he struggles to pursue his dream of becoming a surfer, battling demons and the lures and dangers of the ghetto into which he was born in order to try and achieve the impossible.

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The story of the phenomenon of Air Jordan sneakers showing their social, cultural and racial significance and how ground-breaking marketing strategies created a billion dollar business. But it is also a story with a dark side – for thirty years people have been willing to kill for a pair of Air Jordans, while manufacturers Nike have turned a blind eye. This film is a parable of America's dark love affair with consumer capitalism and celebrity culture. Official Selection SXSW 2020 Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2020

Synopsis

Some filmmakers' style is so unique, they announce themselves in a scene: Lynch; Welles; Malick. And then there is Roy Andersson. A director whose visual storytelling can be encapsulated in a single frame. Because Roy, without hyperbole, is truly one of a kind. All his films take years to make. His crew builds every set; then films and destroys them. He uses only fixed shots with no close-ups or edits. He casts non-professional actors. Roy’s intricate in-camera trickery is meticulous to the point of madness. And each production is shot entirely in an unassuming townhouse below Roy’s apartment – Stockholm's legendary Studio 24. Roy’s contrarian methods have won garlands at the world's most prestigious festivals, and the adulation of visionaries like Darren Aronofsky and Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Now, at 76 years old, he is about to present his final work to the world. ABOUT ENDLESSNESS will mark the end of a major chapter in cinema. For when Roy stops making films, they will never be made this way again. Charting the arduous, unsettled arc of what Roy lovingly terms his “final effort”, BEING A HUMAN PERSON is a poignant and heartbreakingly honest portrait of a master storyteller calling time on his career.

Synopsis

This intimate story chronicles the cross-cultural relationship between musicians Faith and Branko over seven years. In 2011, Faith travels from England to Serbia to learn gypsy accordion. She meets Roma violinist Branko and despite language barriers, they fall in love through music. Captivated by their musical chemistry, they marry and take their duo abroad. As much as Faith is free-spirited and privileged, Branko is untraveled and attached to his family, but they each believe that the other will better their lives. The relationship is tested by the realisation of their differences and that music may be all they have in common. Official Selection Sheffield Doc/Fest 2020 - World Premiere

Synopsis

Idiot or genius, Arthur, homeless outsider spends most of his days in the book shop. Ironically the "idiot" has a knowledge of the world of music and film far greater than any random customer in that shop. Everyone is running around the vanity fair of the huge shopping mall, while Arthur hides behind book stores reading and learning stories from the world. The modern alien, whom everyone calls an idiot, lives in the outskirt of reality but it seems that the world around is incapable of embracing his wisdom. He wanders around the modern jungle city, trying to find his humanity which everyday is taken away from him. He is attacked or humiliated to what he responds with the most eloquent language learnt from books. A portrait of a man who chooses to be free on the streets, and has no place where he belongs.

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Hull, England, 1970. In a run-down commune in a tough port city, a group of social misfits - mostly working class, mostly self-educated - adopted new identities and began making simple street theatre under the name COUM Transmissions. Surviving on meagre resources at the margins of society, COUM’s playful performances gradually gave way to work that dealt openly with sex, pornography, and violence. At the core of the group were two artists, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti: Cosey forged a unique position in relation to 1970s feminism by modelling for pornographic magazines as an exercise in conceptual artwork, while Genesis pushed himself to other extremes, testing the limits of the human body.